


The Brutal Betrayal of Jeffrey the Spiderant

by ThePyromaniacEngineer



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 13:02:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20706440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePyromaniacEngineer/pseuds/ThePyromaniacEngineer
Summary: Inspired fully by Otterstar in the discord. With help from Spacefall.Jeffrey the Spiderant is convinced Rhys will be his mate. He is about to find out just how wrong he is.





	The Brutal Betrayal of Jeffrey the Spiderant

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Spacefall](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spacefall/gifts), [StarfruitSpice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarfruitSpice/gifts).

> I almost forgot, the amazing art by Spacefall!

From the time he was just a hatchling, his mother had always told him to be aware of the small two-legged drifters. Jeffrey did his best to heed her warnings, hiding in the ground when their territory was invaded by a group of them. When the pack of drifters were gone, his siblings were as well. 

Jeffrey was too young to fend for himself yet, and only by luck had he been found by another small drifter. He had cowered in fear, defenseless against an attack, but this drifter had simply lifted him up and held him close.

Before long he was somewhere warm, with plenty of food and a soft place to rest. It was nothing like his old nest, but it was safe. That’s all he could ask for. The drifter was the one to name him and before long he learned the drifter went by ‘Rhys’. 

Jeffrey had been living with the drifter for quite a few moon cycles now. But only recently had he been able to find a suitable prey for Rhys. He spent a good part of a day wrapping it up in silk he made himself, careful to completely encase it in the substance. Another while was spent making sure all the edges were flat and closed off.

Once finally done he gently rolled it to the wall the drifter appeared from when returning. He was too excited to stay still, letting out a happy chirp when Rhys finally arrived home to their odd nest. He waited until the drifter shed the skin on his feet as he did everyday before rolling the gift over to him. 

It was finally time to present his mating present and see if Rhys would accept him as a mate. Surely he would. Jeffrey was the only available partner, and even if there were more, the small creature seemed fond of him.

He stood a few steps back as his gift was inspected, standing up to his full height, showing off. The drifter made an odd sound, one he had come to learn was a happy noise. But his gift was left by the door. Rhys touched his head and then just walked away. Was his gift not good enough? Did Rhys just not understand because he was a Drifter? Jeffrey carefully pulled it over to where the drifter sat, letting out another small chirp. But still, no other reactions. Not even an outright rejection. He hesitated before climbing up next to Rhys and settling down next to him. Maybe he just needed time to think?

A few days later Jeffrey was waiting for the drifter again, but stepped back in surprise when a drifter he'd never met entered their nest. This wasn't the shorter drifter, or the female one. This was a new drifter entirely. One with his strange arms around Rhys. This new drifter seemed to have some kind of shell on his face. Was he a different kind of Drifter?

Jeffrey stepped away to his small area that he had set up some of Rhys’ sheddings in, sitting down until he knew whether or not this creature was a threat. 

But Rhys was making that happy chirping sound again. Was this a new addition to their colony? 

He slowly got settled keeping an eye on the new drifter just in case. He didn't trust a new creature near his future mate. What if his mate got hurt?

Eventually he started to drift off to sleep, it had been quite a while since Rhys had returned and the other drifter hadn't seemed like a threat yet. Jeffrey was just about to nest for the night when he suddenly heard an all too familiar noise from his drifter. 

Rhys made that noise whenever he somehow hurt himself. For a drifter he was extremely uncoordinated. 

Jeffrey jumped up from the makeshift bedding, racing towards Rhys’ personal nest, the wall separating it easily moving out of his way. The strange drifter from earlier was on top of Rhys. He was hurting Rhys.

He didn't waste any time before starting to spin and launching himself at the attacker, standing protectively on top of Rhys once he had knocked the other away. 

He heard an odd chirp from Rhys, turning to look down at him. Rhys simply wrapped his arms around Jeffrey, the odd chirp turning into a repetitive happy one. 

The other drifter kept his distance. Good. Jeffrey had done well in protecting his mate. He wouldn't let Rhys be hurt. And Rhys seemed happy by his actions. He settled back down, intent on staying right there the rest of the night so nothing else could happen. 

**Author's Note:**

> Again, thank you to the lovely rhack discord. This has been written for months but it needed a title. I just couldn't post it as Jeffrey the Spiderant Gets Fucking Rejected


End file.
